Blog

Every morning and every evening the human race has the opportunity to observe a masterpiece free of charge. The morning sunrise and the evening sunset, no two are the same and they are breathtaking. I often take photos of the sky because I am so amazed at how beautiful the changing sky can be. The blue palette is transformed into a wide array of colors. When I am complimented on my photos I always want to respond I am just the one that recorded the beauty not the author of it. So tonight go outside and enjoy the free artwork in the sky.

Every day for the past nine years I have driven by two trees on the dirt road that leads to my home. Sometimes I drive by multiple times. To be honest I never really thought the stand of oak trees was remarkable or even interesting in any way. They were just oak trees that survived the fire the summer of 2011. But the other day my husband and I were headed to town to pick up our children and the sun was shining through an oval that formed were the branches of the two trees met and the ordinary became the extraordinary. The sun shining through the branches on a cold winter day was breathtaking.

I have has just completed the first painting in a series called "San Saba". The series will consist of paintings and photos featuring San Saba County in Texas. The area is part of the Texas Hill Country and is known for beautiful sunsets, rustic scenes and an abundance of wildlife. The first in the series is called “Before the Storm”. This painting is of the main street in San Saba, Wallace Street. It depicts the viewpoint from my gallery "How Great Thou Art Gallery". It is called “Before the Storm” because the scene is from the day San Saba encountered a destructive hail storm. It hailed so hard that Wallace Street was a river of “hail”! I was caught out in the storm and experienced it first hand; I took a photograph right before the storm hit. I have included a link to the gallery's Facebook page.

The original will sell for $475.00 and prints will be available in my online store soon!

Happy New Year from San Saba, Texas
1/1/14 6:07 PM
San Saba, Texas is known as the Pecan Capital of the World. San Saba is surrounded by pecan orchards and rivers, so as you enter the town you will cross a bridge and see a pecan orchard regardless of your entry point. The pecan tree is not the only famous tree in San Saba, the mighty oak tree is also well known. The most well known is the Wedding Oak tree. “Also known as the wedding oak, the marriage oak or the matrimonial oak, the legend is that before the settlers arrived, that Indians stood under the tree to be wed and that the tradition was adopted by the settlers. It's a simple story. That's it. Indians and then settlers got married under it. No ghosts, hangings or mysterious signs carved into the trunk. Just a wedding tree. Outside of San Saba. End of story.”*
As you drive down Dry Street in San Saba you will encounter a large oak tree growing in the middle of the street. The oak tree is not surrounded by a curb it is simply standing tall and strong in the middle of the street daring a car to challenge it. As we celebrate the New Year we can look to the oak tree as an example of small beginnings. The oak tree begins as a tiny acorn but grows into a majestic tree. So whatever your resolution for the New Year may be know that a small change can produce large results!
*http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasHistory/TexasHistoricTrees/San-Saba-Wedding-Oak.htm

My grandfather, Dewey Mack Cason, lived to be 92 years old. He was born in the year 1900 in Coleman County in Texas. We called him “Granddad” but he was known as “Red”. As a six year old boy he memorized poems and stories and since this was pre TV he became the entertainment at family gatherings. Young Dewey would recite Shakespeare. At 92 he would forget your name but was able to recite his “poems”. He was the ultimate story teller he had a story for every occasion.
Granddad lived in a time when Texas was wild and often lawless. He saw a man shot on a bridge when he was under 8 years old, it was a different era, a different time. This painting is my Granddad at 90 years old, there were no pictures of him as a young boy but I think he might have looked like this young boy. A boy who told stories and dreamed of faraway places while living in a difficult time that grew into a man who was loved by everyone who knew him, a man that knew how to tell a story!

Look down and you will be amazed! Color, patterns and texture all beneath your feet. I am always amazed by what I see when I observe the ground that I walk on.